Chapter 46

My Reflector Is Invincible 4646. Be of Help

Kuaaak!

Count Sanderson’s screams grew louder.

At the same time, his body, which had been blackened, began to change.

Kwadeuk.

Horns began to sprout from his blackened face.

The Demon King’s heart reacted to that sight.

[He’s enduring it? He’s enduring it? Is he going to endure it?]

Apart from the pain, the demonification was almost complete.

As proof, Sanderson smiled faintly, despite his agony.

“Do you think I’ll just take this lying down!”

At this rate, he might really become a mazoku.

Jooyeon let out a chuckle.

“You endured that pain.”

Was it out of vengeance toward me?

Or a thirst for power?

That was also within Jooyeon’s expectations.

‘The greater the desire, the higher the success rate of demonization.’

I had thought that someone who could devour the entire North would be able to endure this much.

But it was no use.

I had been saving a power specifically for this moment.

It was the curse that was still waiting to take Jooyeon’s life.

“One cannot intervene from the outside during demonization. One must overcome it with their own strength. But… what if one intervenes from the inside?”

[Huh? Huh? Huh?]

Buzz!

The curse that had been lingering on Jooyeon’s back like wings was repelled by .

＜One Tied to the Horizon＞

The power of the Numbered Artifact began to move, searching for its original owner.

Swish.

It was a curse that should have disappeared, blocked by the energy of demonization.

But somehow, the curse had naturally settled in the Count’s heart.

As if it had always belonged there.

Since the curse had been cast by the Count in the first place, he recognized it as his own power.

Thanks to the Demon King’s heart, the power of the curse, which had been dormant for a while, also began to return.

Thump-thump!

At that, Count Sanderson, who was in the middle of demonization, coughed up blood and clutched his chest.

“Keuk…!”

Along with the sudden pain in his heart, he felt like he couldn’t breathe.

The power of the Artifact had begun to constrict the Count’s heart.

The Count gripped his heart with bloodshot eyes.

“This can’t be… this can’t be…”

How could he endure such pain?

The chance to gain immense power was right before his eyes.

The power to control the world seemed to be within his grasp.

Count Sanderson’s face was filled with despair.

Of course, since the overwhelming power he had felt just a moment ago was now gone.

Jooyeon let out a cold laugh at his expression.

“Power? Don’t make me laugh. Did you think I’d give someone like you such power?”

“Nooo…!”

“Die in agony. As you yearn for the things you let slip through your fingers.”

“Keugh…!”

The Count convulsed and went into seizures.

As the demonization failed, the backlash was taking its toll on his body.

“Gaaah!”

His body was gradually turning monstrous.

A form that was no longer human.

It was a mess, as if he had become a half-demon.

‘So this is the end for those who fail demonization.’

He didn’t have the formidable power of a demon.

He was a fallen being, with a body more wretched than a demon’s.

The Count felt it all the more deeply.

“I’ll kill you… I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you somehow!”

It seemed that he had finally noticed Joo-Heon’s scheme.

The Count glared murderously at the one who was trying to take everything away from him.

He raised his sharp claws like a demon and tried to charge at him.

However, Joo-Heon only chuckled.

“Kill me? Go ahead, try it with that appearance.”

The King of Knights had already reached the vicinity.

If he came, this guy would die a humiliating death as a demon.

Of course, the Count could charge at him before that happened.

However, he hadn’t succeeded in demonization, and he was nothing more than a failed demon.

“It’s humiliating to be defeated.”

Above all, there was someone who wouldn’t stand by and watch Joo-Heon get defeated.

It was the one who had been enjoying the Count’s suffering until now.

[hehehehe.]

It was the Demon King’s Heart.

He had the ability to forcibly control demons and half-demons: ＜Demonic Control＞.

‘Of course, it’s not an ability that works on the Count, who is neither a demon nor a half-demon.’

If he had absorbed a bit more power, he might have been able to control him.

However, he wasn’t the only one here.

Cawww!

The half-demons who had been guarding their positions until now.

The Heart’s voice rang out loudly.

[Can I kill him? Can I kill him? Can I kill him?]

“Yes. My job here is done.”

The half-demons reacted to the Heart’s command.

[Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!]

They charged at the Count with blood-red eyes.

The Count, who had been trying to charge at Joo-Heon, had no choice but to deal with the half-demons.

“Stop… Don’t hurt me!”

Cawww!

The Count was in a sorry state, no matter how strong his energy was.

In contrast, the demons were numerous and fierce, capable of attacking from all sides.

Kyaaak!

“Stop interfering!”

A fierce battle ensued.

The demons died one by one, but at the same time, the Count’s body was covered in wounds.

“Ugh, ugh…”

Yet, in the end, it was the Count who emerged victorious.

Despite severe wounds that included sharp lacerations all over his body and the loss of an arm and a leg, the Count remained standing.

But the fighting spirit in his eyes had yet to wane.

“The hindrance is gone…”

He was determined to kill the protagonist by any means necessary.

With his dying body, the Count charged towards the protagonist.

[Danger! Danger! Danger!]

Even his heart blared a warning at his audacity.

However, the protagonist did not move.

“I’m sorry, but your neck is not worth my taking.”

“What nonsense are you spouting…”

“It’s not nonsense. Look behind you.”

“As if I’d fall for that trick…”

The Count’s words were barely finished when it happened.

Kuaaang!

With immense force, a crescent-shaped object came flying in.

It was a blue crescent, its sharp aura capable of cleaving the heavens.

Swish!

In that same instant, the Count’s head was severed.

His skull rolled on the ground.

“Huh?”

[Huh!? Huh!? Huh!?]

The Count’s and his heart’s eyes widened in surprise.

But the protagonist remained calm.

“Too late.”

Thud!

With a deafening impact, a man clad in full body armor arrived.

It was the Knight King.

He had flown in and sliced the Count’s neck with impeccable precision.

“I sensed the presence of a demon and struck… But you’re far too weak.”

“Of course you would be. After all, he was Count Sanderson.”

“He was a demon?”

“To be exact, he became a demon to covet that man’s power.”

“……!?”

Only then did the Knight King notice Jooyeon’s hand.

There was a black heart throbbing on its own.

“Surely…… The Demon King’s Heart!?”

The aura of an evil spirit that should never exist was enveloping Jooyeon.

Without hesitation, the Knight King raised his sword.

But Jooyeon was looking at the Viscount’s corpse regardless.

Whoosh.

The Viscount’s headless body was engulfed in blue flames and vanished.

‘Finally, the first revenge is over.’

But I didn’t feel joy.

That was because there were still many targets of revenge left.

‘The Viscount is definitely an annoying existence.’

He was trying to use the players as pawns between the powerful.

He ruined the families of my former colleagues and interfered with the protagonist’s work.

The excuse that stuck with me was the Northern Viper because of how much he interfered.

But he wasn’t the real enemy.

‘It’s just superficial. Strictly speaking, he’s nothing more than a servant.’

The North was a barren place.

How did Viscount Sanderson, who didn’t even have a gold mine, have the money to surpass the Duke of Edmer?

It was something that was possible because someone was supporting him.

It was to humiliate and take away the honor of the Edmer family.

Then who was the real enemy?

The Demon race and the human traitors.

Those were the ones that Jooyeon really had to deal with.

They were also the ones hiding among the current powerful people, moving the continent.

‘The Knight King’s family was too honest, so it was easy to get hit.’

That was also because their tricks were so elaborate.

Perhaps my other colleagues were also being attacked similarly.

‘It’s only natural in a way.’

But now that Jooyeon was here, it was impossible.

I’ll get rid of all of them before the Demon King even appears.

There was something to do before that.

“Jooyeon! Throw that heart away now!”

The Knight King shouted as if he was going to attack right away.

That was because he knew the power of the Demon King’s Heart.

Uncharacteristically, he looked unusually urgent.

“Even if you just have it, it’s a monster that corrupts its surroundings! This place was forbidden until now because of it!”

Even the previous Duke, who was called the Knight King, had a hard time holding out for long.

Even now, just being in the same space as the heart, I felt like I was going to be corrupted.

However, Jooyeon answered nonchalantly.

“I’m aware.”

“Wha… what?”

Did she know about the power possessed by the Demon King’s heart?

“Don’t tell me… you approached me with the intention of targeting that heart from the very beginning?”

It was possible.

The Demon King’s heart possessed immense power that anyone belonging to the darkness would covet.

The Saintess with the power of prophecy had also warned long ago.

[The Demon King’s heart is a disaster in its very existence. If left alone, a second Demon King may be born through the heart.] Sёarch* The nôvelFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

There was only one way to prevent that.

[Together with Ryujin, I shall seal the Demon King’s heart. I’m sorry that I can’t allow him to rest in peace, but if it’s the power of the hero and the holy sword… surely it will be able to purify the heart’s energy.]

From Noble mtl dot com

Thus, the heart was sealed with the combined power of the entire continent.

As the Knight King, he could never have imagined that Jooyeon, who he had thought was [that person], would be after it.

“Even if you are [that person]… I cannot tolerate you using that heart!”

Ryujin died because of that heart.

He protected this continent.

Could it be that she approached him for this?

The Knight King raised his sword.

He was determined to stop Jooyeon here, even if it cost him his life.

At that sight, the heart cackled.

[Blo… od… death… screams, delicious!!]

Thump-thump.

It demanded more blood from Jooyeon.

Of course, due to [Reflection], it had no effect on Jooyeon’s mind.

However, it was a powerful item capable of manipulating demons and monsters. There was no way a human would give up their power.

The holy sword also wailed at Jooyeon’s calm gaze.

Buzz.

It begged her to destroy the Demon King’s heart.

It was a sight befitting of a holy sword that detested the mere presence of evil.

The heart mocked such a holy sword.

[Me… help… you… useless…]

If one possessed the heart, they could become the new sovereign of the continent.

Of course, it would automatically turn those around them into demons, earning the continent’s curses and the scorn of fellow characters.

Just like now.

But instead of responding, Jooyeon slowly raised the heart.

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of joining hands with those demons.”

[…!?]

Something was amiss.

Sensing it, the heart tried to move anxiously, but to no avail.

Jooyeon had come to this place with everything planned from the very beginning.

There was no option to join hands with the Demon.

“You’re no help to me anyway.”

Joo-yeon’s eyes turned bloodshot.

His anger at his heart and his feelings for Ryu-Jin were mixing together and drawing out his strength.

He aimed precisely at the weakness and injected strength into his hand.

“So die and be of help.”

Crunch!

The heart burst out with black blood.

And at the same time.

Whoosh!

A bright light began to emanate from the Holy Sword.